Introduction

1. Introduction As a Catholic, I was led to believe that Catholicism was the only true religion and that Judaism was only a preparation for Christianity. Hence, the other religions were all false. In fact, I only heard about Islam for the first time in 1978. I had learned that Muslims believed in the divine origin of Christianity and Judaism. The Qur’an indicates that Allah (the proper name for God in the Arabic language) had sent prophets to every land in order to guide people to the path of truth and righteousness. In order to carve the Christian message into the depths of my subconscious, the Catholic Church designed a program which, when applied from childhood, had a very high probability of retention. This program affected people's beliefs and their behavior for the rest of their lives. In this scheme the central figure is Jesus, and the rites are mostly related to events surrounding his birth, supposed death and resurrection; from his birth, assumed to be in December, to his alleged crucifixion on Easter. These religious rites were introduced by human beings many centuries after Jesus' departure rather than by divine revelation. My Great Love for Jesus Led Me to Islam Simon Alfredo Caraballo

2. Introduction As a Catholic, I was led to believe that Catholicism was the only true religion and that Judaism was only a preparation for Christianity. Hence, the other religions were all false. In fact, I only heard about Islam for the first time in 1978. I had learned that Muslims believed in the divine origin of Christianity andJudaism. The Qur’an indicates that Allah (the proper name for God in the Arabic language)1 had sent prophets to every land in order to guide people to the path of truth and righteousness. In order to carve the Christian message into the depths of my subconscious, the Catholic Church designed a program which, when applied from childhood, had a very high probability of retention. This program affected people's beliefs and their behavior for the rest of their lives. In this scheme the central figure is Jesus, and the rites are mostly related to events surrounding his birth, supposed death and resurrection; from his birth, assumed to be in December, to his alleged crucifixion on Easter. These religious rites were introduced by human beings many centuries after Jesus' departure rather than by divine revelation. According to tradition in Venezuela, at midnight onDecember 24th I used to wait for the arrival of Jesus to bring the gifts that I had requested in my yearly wish list. Being from a poor family and having several brothers and sisters, I understood that it was very difficult for the "Child Jesus" to bring me what I had asked for. But I was often confused and puzzled because if Jesus had performed so many miracles, as I had learned from nuns and priests, why was he not able to bring me a tricycle? Wasn't that request easier for Him than bringing dead people back to life? Thus, for several years the concept of the "Child Jesus" left me disappointed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1"Allah" is the same word that Arabic speaking Christians and Jews use for God. It is a unique word grammatically, since it cannot be made plural or given a gender (i.e., masculine or feminine), which is consistent with the Islamic concept of God. Introduction As a Catholic, I was led to believe that Catholicism was the only true religion and that Judaism was only a preparation for Christianity. Hence, the other religions were all false. In fact, I only heard about Islam for the first time in 1978. I had learned that Muslims believed in the divine origin of Christianity and Judaism. The Qur’an indicates that Allah (the proper name for God in the Arabic language) had sent prophets to every land in order to guide people to the path of truth and righteousness. In order to carve the Christian message into the depths of my subconscious, the Catholic Church designed a program which, when applied from childhood, had a very high probability of retention. This program affected people's beliefs and their behavior for the rest of their lives. In this scheme the central figure is Jesus, and the rites are mostly related to events surrounding his birth, supposed death and resurrection; from his birth, assumed to be in December, to his alleged crucifixion on Easter. These religious rites were introduced by human beings many centuries after Jesus' departure rather than by divine revelation.

3. As Easter was approaching, I used to watch televised stories of how Jesus was abused until he was hung on a cross to be crucified. I really wanted to climb inside the TV set and help him somehow. I asked God to help him, and asked Him not to let His "son" be crucified. In the end I would hide and crybecause I was taught that "men do not cry." I could notunderstand why such brutality was inflicted on such a good man. As a child, this incident cultivated in me an intense love for this great prophet of God. As for other children, perhaps the toys they received on Christmas – as an answer to their wishes –was the cause of their affection towards Jesus. If the objective of the Church was to somehow infuse a feeling of reverence for Jesus, in my case they were successful. I learned to love Jesus more than my own parents. However, while still a child, I started to question the power of God. The concept that I had about God was that He could do whatever He wanted. He had created the universe, the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, and human beings. I wondered why He could not save Jesus from being crucified on the cross. In order to resolve this dilemma, on one occasion I climbed a small wall in the backyard of my house and challenged God, saying: "If You are really so powerful and can do whatever You like, then make me fly when I jump from this wall. Otherwise, I will not believe that You are so powerful because You could not save Jesus from the cross either." Fortunately, the wall was not so high and I fell to the ground. With every attempt to fly I became more and more convinced that God was not so powerful after all. A childish analysis indeed! Later on in life when I started high school, my parents allowed me to work with an old man who was a photographer, and I accompanied him to many places. It turned out that he was also a very famous fortuneteller. Wherever we went, many of his female clients would ask him about events that would happen in their future. For this task he used to smoke brown tobacco, and as it was being consumed and the ashes fell, he would "reveal" information to his clients. I also learned that he used to hypnotize people in order to learn hidden things about their lives and would then respond to their queries. Introduction As a Catholic, I was led to believe that Catholicism was the only true religion and that Judaism was only a preparation for Christianity. Hence, the other religions were all false. In fact, I only heard about Islam for the first time in 1978. I had learned that Muslims believed in the divine origin of Christianity and Judaism. The Qur’an indicates that Allah (the proper name for God in the Arabic language) had sent prophets to every land in order to guide people to the path of truth and righteousness. In order to carve the Christian message into the depths of my subconscious, the Catholic Church designed a program which, when applied from childhood, had a very high probability of retention. This program affected people's beliefs and their behavior for the rest of their lives. In this scheme the central figure is Jesus, and the rites are mostly related to events surrounding his birth, supposed death and resurrection; from his birth, assumed to be in December, to his alleged crucifixion on Easter. These religious rites were introduced by human beings many centuries after Jesus' departure rather than by divine revelation.